Last Updated on 17 seconds ago by Charbel Coorey

Pat Cummins expressed his disappointment following Australia’s defeat by an innings and 31 runs against South Africa in a rain-affected Gqeberha Test. In a first innings batting performance described as “gutless” by Vernon Philander on SEN Radio, Australia’s 99 all out on day four put the match right in South Africa’s hands.

Following on, Australia were unable to hold on for a draw despite rain washing out the first session on day five. Travis Head and Scott Boland performed well, but more unforced errors from the lineup headlined another shaky batting display.

“We were nowhere near our best across the board really,” Cummins said, as quoted by Cricinfo. “Clearly need to be a lot better than that if we want to compete. I think a loss can sometimes kick yourself into gear. You can maybe paper over the cracks sometimes in a win. Whereas I think in a loss, it makes you ask questions as a player of yourself.”

Pat Cummins calls on more from the batsmen after heavy loss in Gqeberha Test

Head and Boland led the way in the second innings to give Australia hope of saving the Test. Marnus Labuschagne made a start but gave it away, while a number of others – including Steve Smith – played shots they would like to take back.

“I think you’ve got to find a way in Test cricket. It’s not always going to be easy. You saw today with Trav and Scotty, sometimes it’s going to be about getting through the tough spells, sticking to your method and I think we went away from that on day four,” Cummins said.

“You know, a couple of loose shots, [we] could have hung around and kind of waited for the game to come to us a little bit more.”

The nature of the defeat is cause for concern for Australia. The visitors lost 19 wickets in two days to take the series to a Cape Town decider. Cummins admitted there will be conversations in the leadup to the third Test.

“Even last week [in Durban], obviously Renshaw had an amazing game but I still think we weren’t at our best, particularly in the batting,” Cummins said.

“Looking around the changing room at how good our batters are and the standards they all hold themselves to, I think we’re probably a little bit shorter runs of where we’d like to [be]. It’s [about] what do we look like at our best? We’re still finding ways to win, [but] I think we make it hard for ourselves sometimes. We’ve got three or four days to get it right for Cape Town. There’ll be lots of conversations.”

Nic Maddinson and Beau Webster are believed to be under the most pressure. The likes of Sam Harper, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis and Cooper Connolly are waiting in the wings. Labuschagne’s tightrope continues to become shakier, but Cummins’ view on the number three suggests he could survive the cut for the third Test.

“It’s certainly not a technical error [regarding Labuschagne’s dismissal]. It’s you know maybe a couple of decision makings, some some decisions that you know maybe the game demanded something a little bit differently. So again, we’ll work on that in the next couple (of) days. I think he’s hitting the ball well,” Cummins said.

The third and final Test begins at Newlands on Tuesday October 27.